WILLIAM PICKERING, (1796-1854), ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLER., PUBLISHER, AND BOOK DESIGNER: A STUDY IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY BOOK-TRADE. By James M. McDonnell This study is the first systematic and detailed examination of the life and career of William Pickering. Pickering was chosen as a subject because he can be regarded as a transitional figure. In a period when the specialist publisher was coming to the fore, and bookselling and publishing were tending to become quite separate occupations, Pickering's combination of rare-book dealing and publishing was a continuation of eighteenth century practices into the 1850s. On the other hand Pickering's invention of cloth binding for books, his creation of a personal publishing style, his achievements as a book designer, and his involvement with the movement to lower book prices, are all innovatory traits. The study argues that Pickering's conservative and innovatory tendencies can best be understood as a response to particular social and economic conditions. It investigates Pickering's perception of and relation to his public, his authors, and his printer (Charles Whittingham the Younger) and financial backer (John Joseph Thornthwaite). It also examines Pickering's awareness of the financial and economic conditions which constrained his business. The argument is based upon an extensive and thorough study of Pickering Is extant correspondence, and upon those papers relating to his business which have been preserved. The most important primary source has been the printing ledgers of the Chiswick Press.